HRT/Prempro verdicts. A bright spot for the settlement industry?

In today's edition of Speaking of
Justice, the daily LBN show that features news makers, commentators and
experts in all area of the law, Scott Drake is joined by Attorney
Roberta Ashkin, one of the nations leading experts in the area of HRT
(Hormone Replacement Therapy) litigation, also known as Prempro
litigation.

Just
last week in the Scroggin vs Wyeth case that was being argued in U.S.
District Court in Little Rock, AK a jury returned compensatory damages
on a Prempro trial of $2.7 million to plaintiff Donna Scroggin. The
case is currently still in the damages phase on potential punitive
damages, so this initial award is simply for compensatory damages.

Roberta
and Scott discuss the facts and issues in both this case but also the
landmark verdict in Reno, NV that was tried to a $150 million verdict
by Zoe Littlepage of the Houston firm of Littlepage Booth. This was
recently reduced by the trial judge to $50 million, still an
outstanding amount and a substantial victory for the three plaintiffs.

My question to the settlement industry is whether or not the Prempro litigation, also known as HRT litigation, as a result of the string of recent court wins has the potential to turn this area into one that might be of prime interest to the settlement industry. Most claimants are older women who would be ideally suited in most regards to benefit from a structured settlement. It will be a matter of whether this case is going to be another round of individual trials or could we eventually see a global settlement of some type ala Vioxx?